It’s no secret that games from bygone eras are enjoying a rebirth on the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade, but are gamers so happy to be reliving their childhoods that they’re overlooking egregious flaws in these rereleases? This is the question posed over at ArsTechnica as it dissects just what’s broken about some of the most high-profile VC and XBLA titles. You can’t save your ghost data on Mario Kart 64’s time trials, for example, and Frogger just plain feels wonky.
I’m not convinced this isn’t just much ado about nothing, though. Unless you feel like hooking up your N64 every time you want to play Mario Kart 64, then the Virtual Console version, missing ghosts and all, is your best bet. And while I played a fair amount of Frogger at the local pizza joint back when I was a kid, that muscle memory has long since dissipated, so while the XBLA version might not be quite right, the difference is certainly not an insurmountable obstacle. So, I ask you: do these “flaws” actually lessen the gameplay experience, or is this all nothing more than purist bitching and moaning?
Classics on new consoles aren’t always faithful [ArsTechnica]